Found poem gives voice to patients’ experiences of blood tests

Vegetable garden with text overlay title of poem 'It should be we not us and them'

7 November 2024

Having blood tests or getting blood test results can be worrying and sometimes confusing, especially if communication around them is poor. Dr Jess Watson, a GP and academic clinical lecturer at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, has been exploring how GPs and others working in general practice communicate with patients about blood tests to see if there might be ways of doing it better.

Dr Watson has published several academic papers on the topic, but was keen also to engage with members of the public, particularly in communities whose voices are not always heard in research.

Working with Bristol poet, Fiona Hamilton, Terreka Baptiste, a public contributor, Dr Julie Clayton, an expert in public involvement, and members of the Barton Hill coffee morning in Bristol, Jess ran a series of poetry workshops to get people thinking about their experiences in a creative and inclusive way.

The result was a ‘found poem’, born out of the discussions among workshop participants. The poem was recently published as part of a blog about the project.

Today [7 November 2024], we are delighted to be able to share a short film version of the poem, which has been created through a further collaboration with young Bristol film maker, Patch de Salis.

The film gives powerful expression to the voices and experiences of participants around the poem’s central theme of ‘It should be we, not us and them’.

Dr Watson said: “Poetry is an exciting way of engaging with communities and gives voice to the lived experiences of participants. We will be using the findings of this project for future research to help people with diverse needs to access and understand their blood test results online.”

For more about this research, see the Accessible Results project page.

Watch the film

Feedback

We would love to hear what you think of the poem and film. Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Acknowledgements

Patch DeSalis, PatchUp productions for creating this video: @patchdesalis9092
Fiona Hamilton, poet: http://www.fionahamilton.org/about.html
Terreka Baptiste and the Barton Hill Coffee morning group, Barton Hill Micro-campus, Bristol
Dr Julie Clayton, Bristol Medical School, who co-facilitated the workshops
The NIHR School for Primary Care Research for funding this project

Further information

About the Centre for Academic Primary Care

The Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC) at the University of Bristol is a leading centre for primary care research in the UK, one of ten forming the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. It sits within Bristol Medical School, an internationally recognised centre of excellence for population health research and teaching. Follow on Bluesky: @capcbristol.bsky.social, X: @capcbristol and LinkedIn

About the NIHR

The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:

Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.

NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.